10 stock-market Novembers to remember

Commentary: Other events took place during the top-10 Novembers for the Dow

While we’re always a little bit happier when the market is doing well, most people will agree that there’s more to life than money. At Trading Strategies we looked back at 10 best Novembers for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
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to see what was happening outside the market in these happy months for investors. (Market data analysis provided by Hulbert Financial Digest.)

In November 1928, the Dow gained about 16.3% and Walt Disney’s
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Mickey Mouse was introduced in the animated short film “Steamboat Willie.” In addition to bringing the world what would become one of the most iconic cartoon characters, it featured synchronized sound and a post-produced soundtrack. (Source: The People History and Wikipedia.)

William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt (r). Everett Collection

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1900: Hello again, President McKinley

William McKinley wins his second term as U.S. president, beating William Jennings Bryan, and the Dow closed out the month up nearly 13%. McKinley was the 25th president, and the last president to serve in the Civil War. His second term ended abruptly in September 1901 after he was shot by an anarchist while shaking hands with the public and died from his wounds. McKinley was succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt. (Source: America’s Best History and Wikipedia.)

President Roosevelt

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1933: FDR creates the Civil Works Administration

The Dow may have climbed more than 11% in November 1933, but times were hard for many Americans. As a result, the Civil Works Administration was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He believed that instead of cash handouts, Americans would benefit more from the construction jobs created by the program. The jobs were short term, for the winter of 1933 to 1934. Workers built and improved bridges, roads, schools, airports and parks. It was unveiled in November 1933 and ended in March 1934, employing 4 million people. (Source: HistoryOrb and Wikipedia.)

Everett Collection

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1934: Yankees get Joe DiMaggio

In November 1934, when the Dow wrapped 10.3% higher, there was another good investment in the works. Joe DiMaggio was recovering from a knee injury and playing for the Seattle Seals when the Yankees bought him in exchange for $25,000 and five other players . It ended up being a pretty smart move. While he didn’t play for the Yankees until May of 1936, when he bat ahead of Lou Gehrig, the Yankees won the next four World Series and they won a total of nine titles in the 13 years he was on the team. (Source: HistoryOrb and Wikipedia.)

Richard Nixon campaigning for governor of California with his wife, Pat. Everett Collection

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1962: Richard Nixon — down but not out

The Dow may have had a winning month, climbing 10%, but Richard Nixon was having a tougher time. In his so-called “last press conference” the Republican told reporters he was quitting politics and they wouldn’t “have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.” Of course, that was far from his last press conference. Nixon made an astounding comeback, winning the presidential election in 1968. (Source: HistoryOrb, Wikipedia, U-S-History.com)

Everett Collection

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1954: The King of the Monsters appears

While in the U.S., investors were busy pushing the Dow to a better-than-9% gain for the month, in Japan, Toho Company unleashed 20,000 tons of fury upon Tokyo. Godzilla came crawling out of the depths of the sea and into Japanese theaters on Nov. 3, 1954. Ultimately finishing eighth for the year in the Japanese box office, it is still the second-most-attended film Godzilla film in Japan of the 28 that have been made.

It saw a limited release in the U.S. in 1955, but in 1956, the company shot some scenes with Raymond Burr playing a reporter, reworked the original footage, officially named the monster Godzilla (it was known as Gojira in Japan) and put in wide release in the U.S., and the rest was history. (Source: Wikizilla, Wikipedia)

Everett Collection

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1927: New York and New Jersey come together

The Dow saw a nice 9% rise in November of 1927, but even an advance like that would have been pushed off of New York’s front pages because the Holland Tunnel officially opened on Nov. 13, 1927. Officially named the Clifford Millburn Holland Tunnel (after its chief engineer, who died before its completion), the stretch connects Canal Street in Manhattan to 12th and 14th streets in Jersey City, N.J.

On its first day of operation, over 54,000 vehicles passed through, paying a 50-cent toll to help pay for its construction. The cost of the project was $48 million, or $645 million today, but was obviously worth it with over 16 million cars (going eastbound) in 2012. (Source: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Wikipedia)

Getty Images

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2001: China ends a 15-year wait

November 2001 found the Dow in fine form, giving investors a reason to celebrate, posting an 8.5% increase for the month. Someone else doing a bit of celebrating was China, which saw 15 years of negotiations with the World Trade Organization come to an end, when the group formally voted the country membership on Nov. 10.

Since that time, China has grown into the world’s second-largest economy from the smallest of what the International Monetary Fund refers to as “advanced economies.” It is now also the world’s largest exporter and second-largest importer. (Source: IMF, WTO)

Getty Images

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1980: A changing of the guard

A month that sees a 7.4% rise in the Dow is terrific, but there’s little question the talk of the town was the beginning of the Reagan Era, as on Nov. 4, Ronald Reagan defeated the Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter and independent John Anderson for the office of president, on the one-year anniversary of the Iranian hostage crisis. His victory was a landslide, as Reagan took 489 electoral votes and 44 states to Carter’s 49 and 6 (plus D.C.) and Anderson’s pair of zeroes.

Furthering the country’s rejection of the Democrats, the Republicans also took control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years. (Source: History.com; Wikipedia)

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1985: The day the sun went out

The 10th best November the Dow has ever had came in 1985, with the index rising just a touch over 7% for the month, which is great, but perhaps not as lights-out as our other entries. However, when it comes to lights out, on Nov. 12, if you happened to be in Antarctica, it would have been lights out, as there was a total solar eclipse A total solar eclipse is when the moon is directly between the sun and the Earth, blocking the sun entirely and turning day into night.

While eclipses of all kinds are relatively common, total eclipses are quite rare, happening every 18 months on average and every 360-410 years for any particular place. (Source: NASA.com; Wikipedia)

Shutterstock

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1985: The day the sun went out

The 10th best November the Dow has ever had came in 1985, with the index rising just a touch over 7% for the month, which is great, but perhaps not as lights-out as our other entries. However, when it comes to lights out, on Nov. 12, if you happened to be in Antarctica, it would have been lights out, as there was a total solar eclipse A total solar eclipse is when the moon is directly between the sun and the Earth, blocking the sun entirely and turning day into night.

While eclipses of all kinds are relatively common, total eclipses are quite rare, happening every 18 months on average and every 360-410 years for any particular place. (Source: NASA.com; Wikipedia)

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